Myspace Deal Makes Justin Timberlake a Real-Life Sean Parker

Justin Timberlake is now a partial owner of Myspace, and the company's new owners are very proud of him. “We’re thrilled about the opportunity to rebuild and reinvigorate Myspace,” said Tim Vanderhook, CEO of Specific Media, who bought the struggling site from News Corp. for $35 million on Wednesday. “We look forward to partnering with someone as talented as Justin Timberlake, who will lead the business strategy with his creative ideas and vision for transforming Myspace. This is the next chapter of digital media, and we are excited to have a hand in writing the script."

For Aaron Sorkin/The Social Network fans, the "script" jokes are easy: "A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool? $35 million and a shrinking user base." Or how about: "Drop the 'My.' Just 'Space.' It's cleaner."

Blogger and self-described media junkie Cullen Scannell wondered on Twitter, "JT does realize he was just acting and isn't really Sean Parker, right?"

It's unclear. The parallel between Justin Timberlake's character in The Social Network and Justin Timberlake in real life is unavoidable. Either way, we're eager to see what the former N'Sync star can do with the music-heavy social network. According to Specific Media's press release, Timberlake with join Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook to turn the social network into "the premiere digital destination for original shows, video content and music. (Like Napster!) Timberlake said:

There’s a need for a place where fans can go to interact with their favorite entertainers, listen to music, watch videos, share and discover cool stuff and just connect. Myspace has the potential to be that place. Art is inspired by people and vice versa, so there’s a natural social component to entertainment. I’m excited to help revitalize Myspace by using its social media platform to bring artists and fans together in one community.

Like Sean Parker said in The Social Network:

You don't even know what the thing is yet. How big it can get, how far it can go. This is no time to take your chips down. A million dollars isn't cool. You know what's cool?

Well, you know the rest.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Adam Clark Estes is a former writer for The Wire. He has also written for The Huffington Postand Vice.